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The
Costa Almeria is as varied as
any of the Spanish Coasts. To
the east of Almeria we find the
rugged and desolate coast of the Cabo de Gata - Nijar natural
park. This is an arid desert
landscape and the annual
rainfall here is less than
200mm. It is sparsely populated,
few villages and a very low
population density. Visitors
feel a sense of exploration here
as many of the coves can only be
reached on foot. This area is
particularly popular with nature
lovers and back-packers. The
most popular coastal village is
San José.
San José is a delightful small
township of 175 souls in Almería province, nowadays proving
increasingly popular as a
holiday resort. It is located
around a shallow bay towards the
south end of Cabo de Gata. There
is a refreshing lack of high-rise
development here, and the town
has sandy streets, a natural
park and one of the finest
beaches on the Cabo de Gata located along a dirt road to the
Southwest of town.
West of Almeria is the highly
developed tourist resorts of Roquetas de Mar
and Aguadulce. These have all
the facilities of any modern
resort to support the package
holiday market.
At the north of the Costa de
Almeria is the naturist beaches
of Vera, a number of new
complexes are being constructed
here. A little further south is
Mojacar which successfully
combines the popular beach
holiday with the hillside white
village that tourist love to
explore.
Just 2 km away from the Mojacar
Pueblo is its beach resort. The
long uncrowned sandy beaches are
one of its main attractions.
The beaches are 17 km long, with
a large part being designated an
area of natural beauty. Only 7
km have been developed and they
consistently earn European Blue
Flag awards for cleanliness.
The beach resort has been
developed over the past two
decades, it is now a lively
resort with much to offer with
beach bars, local and
international restaurants,
discos, hotels and shops. The
resort enforces a building
restriction to prevent it
becoming a high rise
concrete development;
residential buildings are
restricted to two storeys and
hotels can't be built higher
than four floors.
For those looking for an active
holiday there is much to do.
There is a
full range of
watersports including jet ski-ing,
canoeing, water ski-ing, sailing,
windsurfing and scuba diving. If
you have a head for heights why
not take a flight in a
microlight over the beach at the
Indalo Wings Microlight Centre
or try your hand at paragliding.
When you have done all this
there is still hiking, rock
climbing, biking or horse riding.
There is an 18 hole golf course
at Marina de la Torre that
offers spectacular views of the
coast, whilst enjoying a
challenging round of golf.
For a spot of retail therapy try
the Parque Comercial, a modern
shopping precinct at the
intersection of the sea front
and the road to Mojacar Pueblo.
There is a local bus service
that runs regularly between the
beach and the Mojacar Pueblo.
Almeria city is worth a visit
with the Alcazaba castle
overlooking the metropolis.
To
the west we find the developing
complex of Almerimar with
Marinas, golf, hotels and many
other facilities.
The old fishing port town of
Adra lies further west. In spite
of the interesting castle and
assorted archeological remains,
it is often missed by tourists
travelling along the coastal
motorway to or from the Costa
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